Luke Skywalker actor Mark Hamill hinted in a recent interview that he may only have a cameo role in Star Wars: Episode IX. Here’s a breakdown of what he said.
At the end of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the final image the audience had of Luke Skywalker was him staring out at the sunset overlooking the ocean as his body faded away and become one with the force, after exhausting himself by “force projecting” a copy of himself to Crait to distract Kylo Ren and the First Order to let the remainder of the resistance escape.
Despite that, Luke Skywalker was confirmed to appear in the upcoming Star Wars Episode IX, and Mark Hamill was confirmed to be reprising the role last summer prior to the beginning of filming.
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Given his apparent death at the end of The Last Jedi, many fans are speculating as to what capacity he will be appearing, with many expecting him to either return as a “force ghost” to further mentor Rey in a similar role to that of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original trilogy.
It has also been reported in a recent set of leaks that Luke will appear alongside his sister Princess Leia in a flashback in the upcoming movie.
However, despite fans hoping for a larger role for Luke Skywalker in Episode IX, and Disney regarding the film as a course correction for the franchise after fans gave a “mixed response” to The Last Jedi and Solo: A Star Wars Story, actor Mark Hamill suggested his role in the upcoming movie may only be a cameo role.
In a recent interview with Den of Geek, Hamill was questioned regarding his role in the sequel trilogy, where he stated the following:
"“I thought: oh, okay, you should push my death off to the last one. That’s what I was hoping when I came back: no cameos and a run-of-the-trilogy contract. Did I get any of those things? Because as far as I’m concerned, the end of VII is really the beginning of VIII. I got one movie! They totally hornswoggled me.’”"
Now, this comment by Mark Hamill can be interpreted a couple of ways, as clearly, he isn’t overly satisfied with what his role has been in the recent films.
His comment that “I got one movie!“, could refer to the fact that, at this point in time, his appearances in the sequel trilogy has been limited to a brief appearance at the end of The Force Awakens where he did not even speak, and The Last Jedi, in which he was a central player in the movie and, as previously mentioned, died at the conclusion of. So up until this point, he has only really been a part of one movie.
However, there is the possibility that this comment may also extend to Episode IX, which is set to be the conclusion of the new trilogy. Perhaps this means that Luke Skywalker will only be appearing in a minor role in the new film, and one that Hamill considers to be a cameo, hence his opinion that he only “got one movie“.
As of now, all we can do is speculate how much Luke Skywalker will be appearing in Star Wars Episode IX, but if this quote is anything to go off of, fans should be prepared for the possibility that we may not see very much of him, although I how that isn’t the case
Star Wars Episode IX will be released on December 20th, 2019.